The IRF World Congress 2024, a prominent global event focused on road infrastructure and sustainable mobility, took place from 15 to 18 October in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul. The Congress gathered over 2,000 participants from more than 80 countries, including ministers, high-level international organisations, and key public and private stakeholders to discuss how to reimagine transport systems to build a greener, safer, and more inclusive future.

MOBILITIES for EU partners represented the project in various formats and sessions, networking with experts and stakeholders from all over the world, to share insights and best practices. On October 16, 2024, project representatives participated in several key sessions:

Electric Buses in Madrid

Álvaro Rodríguez López de Guereña, a representative from our partner EMT Madrid, held an insightful presentation about the electrification of buses for people transportation. Electric buses will also be tested and implemented in one of our lead cities, Madrid, at the site of Mercamadrid—the largest Spanish market and one of the most active in Europe—also hosting Madrid’s Urban Mobility Lab.  

Building Climate-Resilient Cities through Mobility Innovation

In collaboration with its sister project metaCCAZE, MOBILITIES for EU hosted the session “Towards Greener Horizons: Building Climate-Resilient Cities through Mobility Innovation”. The event provided a platform for insights into climate-neutral and zero-emission urban mobility strategies, bringing together thought leaders and city representatives to share practical experiences and future-forward solutions.

Daria Kuzmina, Senior Manager of Knowledge & Innovation at UITP, opened the session with a keynote address highlighting the pivotal role of public transport in enhancing urban climate resilience and embracing new mobility technologies.

The session then invited a panel of experts including Julia María Vicente Gómez, MOBILITIES FOR EU Project Coordinator from CARTIF; Sergio Fernandez Balaguer from EMT Madrid; Tamara Djukic, metaCCAZE Project Coordinator from ERTICO ITS-Europe; Theodora Betsidou from MaaSLab in Limassol; and Seda Özdemir from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM). They shared real-case scenarios of how their cities are reducing emissions, overcoming challenges in public acceptance, and adapting infrastructure to support cutting-edge mobility solutions.

The session closed with a lively panel discussion moderated by Agostina Massarini from the International Road Federation (IRF), where speakers from MOBILITIES for EU, metaCCAZE, and UITP shared lessons learned and discussed the next steps in building climate-resilient cities.

The IRF World Congress 2024 in Istanbul underscored MOBILITIES FOR EU’s commitment to supporting European cities in their journey towards 2030 climate targets and fostering collaborations that drive sustainable urban transformations.